


Ninja Shipping Power Rainbow

by Sparky_Young_Upstart



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Ninja Steel
Genre: Baking, F/F, F/M, Horseback Riding, Imprisonment, M/M, Prom, card tricks, fixing a robot, hoverboards, infinite shipping, let's get on this shipping horse before anyone else
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 18:17:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9453878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparky_Young_Upstart/pseuds/Sparky_Young_Upstart
Summary: There are fourteen different ways to ship the ninja nerds. Let's observe.UPDATED 2/21/18 with chapter 6!





	1. Purple (Brody/Preston)

Preston was idly shuffling cards as he watched Brody dig into his lunch at the cafeteria. obviously he understood that, being a prisoner and all, Brody probably didn’t get a lot of food during his stay on Galvanax’s ship. Still, it was crazy how much (and how _fast_ ) he could wolf down an entire meal.

“So those aren’t actually magic, are they?” he asked, though Preston almost didn’t hear him through the two buns stuffed into his face.

“Oh! Um, no, not...not real.” He paused. “Did you come across real magic when you were up there?”

Brody swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, sometimes. There are plenty of space witches and wizards coming on to the show. Madame Odious would cast some really nasty spells when she got mad.” He suppressed a small shudder. Preston winced. He really wanted to talk to Brody about the stuff he’d gone through, but he also didn’t want to push him before he was ready. So for now it was just eating food and talking about normal stuff. “So if you don’t use magic, how do your tricks work?”

Preston grinned. “Well, I, uh, a magician never reveals his secrets!” he flourished the deck before Brody, but the other boy looked unimpressed. “Okay, I guess I can show you. It’s all sleight of hand, see.” He held the deck up in front of Brody. “Okay, so, I’m gonna flip the deck and I want you to pick a card that you see as I do, but don’t tell me what it is.”

Brody nodded. “Okay,” he smiled.

Preston bent the deck slightly, then let the cards flip down so that Brody only got quick flashes of their faces and values. “Alright,” he said, “you saw a card?”

“Mm-hm.”

Preston smiled. He shuffled the cards a few times, then tapped the top and leaned over the table, holding the deck out. “Okay, now hold this for me.” Brody raised an eyebrow, not sure where the trick was going, but he did as Preston asked. “Now look at the top card.” Brody looked.

“It’s the ace of spades...and not my card.”

Preston frowned. “Huh? That’s not right. Where did I put your card?” He looked around, and Brody was pretty sure he was just pretending, but then he grabbed the red ranger’s food tray and slid it over to his side of the table.

“H-hey! I’m not finished with that yet!”

Preston shrugged. “That’s fine, I just needed to grab something.” He lifted the tray up, revealing the nine of hearts. That one _was_ Brody’s card.

“How did you...how?”

Preston grinned and motioned for Brody to give him the deck back. “Well the first thing I did with this deck was make sure that I’d be able to know which card you’d pick.” He flipped through the cards until he found two and laid them on the table. Another two nine of hearts, the same style as the initial one. “These two cards side by side made the image of the nine of hearts stick in your head.”

Brody matched Preston’s sly grin. “Oh, I get it. But how’d you get the third card underneath my tray?”

“While you were looking at the top card I was able to slide it underneath.” Then Preston blushed. “Actually, that was the first time I’ve been able to pull that trick off without the other person noticing.”

Brody laughed. “Well, I thought it was pretty good.” He pulled his food tray back. “You know, if you’re not busy tonight, maybe you could show me some other tricks?” He paused. “And maybe head to dinner too, if you don’t mind.”

Preston almost chuckled, then stopped. “You, uh, you mean on a date?”

Brody paused. “I mean...people on Earth still do dates like that, right? I mean, I was only eight last time I was here, but I think I picked up that much.”

“Yeah!” Preston said, a little too loudly. “I mean, um, yes, that’s still how it goes. I’d love to - I mean, I’d really like going on a date with you.” He tried to keep from blushing so hard. “But you’ll have to pay.”

Brody frowned. “Preston, I don’t have any money.”

Preston arched an eyebrow. “Really? What about this here?” He flicked his hand by Brody’s ear and pulled a folded up dollar bill from seemingly nowhere. Brody was stunned for a moment, then he started to laugh again. Preston did too.

_He has a cute laugh_ , they both thought.


	2. Lavender (Preston/Sarah)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the comments! I'm glad this is going over well already!

Preston didn’t think he’d ever fallen in love before, but he was pretty sure that was what he felt for Sarah. How else could he explain why he agreed to her hoverboarding him to school every morning since they met?

It wasn’t that he thought she wasn’t a good driver, because she was. She’d been able to pull off plenty of stunts without hurting either of them. It wasn’t because he distrusted the hover board itself either. He’d seen Sarah work on it on her free time, tweak it and keep it running smoothly. He had no doubts when it came to her mechanical prowess. And of course, he certainly didn’t mind the time they got to spend together.

But the fact of the matter was that it was still a very fast way to travel, and Sarah liked to go out of her way to jump over ramps, rocks, small animals, classmates - she operated the board without a care in the world.

It was exhilarating.

It was kind of terrifying.

(It was kind of embarrassing for a Power Ranger who regularly fought alien monsters to admit that too).

This morning, Sarah had landed at the steps of the school after doing a triple spin over the curb. Preston immediately got off and began to whirl around, his balance still off-kilter thanks to the stunt. Sarah giggled a bit, then stepped off the board so she could grab his shoulders and steady him.

“Easy now!” she said as Preston leaned into her for support. He managed to crack a smile despite his dizziness.

“I guess I’m still not used to this,” he muttered as he took off the blue helmet that Sarah had given him. The pink ranger crossed her ams and regarded him.

“Are you sure that you like riding to school with me?”

Prestons shook his head (bad idea - not steady yet). “What? Of course I do!”

“It just seems like you get really...nervous whenever we’re on the board. And especially afterwards.”

He reached out to hold her shoulder again, but misjudged and ended up holding her hand. “I...just because I’m a bit uncoordinated doesn’t mean that I don’t wanna keep doing this.” He stood up straight. “I like spending time with you.”

Sarah grinned. “Okay, just checking. Still, if it ever gets to be too much for you then just say the word and I’ll take the bus with you.” The only reason Sarah had come on her board the first day was because she herself was unsure about being the one new kid on the bus to school. She had told herself that after she’d made some friends she’d ride with them, but then Preston had offered to accompany her on her board. She knew right from the start that he was just trying to prove to her that he was just as brave as everyone else on the team, but she wasn’t about to pass on an opportunity to spend time with him either. Even after befriending everyone else on the team, she and Preston had the closest bond of anyone.

“Actually...” Preston had continued, and Sarah shook herself out of her own thoughts. “I was hoping that maybe we could spend some time together tonight?”

“Oh, have you got another magic show?” Sarah asked back.

“No, no, I just, uh, I got some free movie passes in the mail and was thinking of using them.” He smiled. “With you, if you’re willing.” He fished the passes out of his pocket and held one out to her.

Sarah beamed and reached for one of the slips. “Oh, yeah! I’d love to go on a date with you!” Then she paused. “This is a date, right?”

Preston nodded. “Pretty sure it is.”

Sarah continued to smile as she took the pass and placed it in her own back pocket. “Well then, I will see you later tonight for our date!”

Sarah had come to Summer Cove hoping that she’d be able to make friends fast, but she never thought she’d be able to get a real boyfriend after only a few weeks. And the both of them thought the prospect of going out on a date was a bit more exciting than being a Power Ranger.


	3. Fuschia (Sarah/Brody)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (back by popular demand! <3)

“So Redbot can just...remove his head?” Sarah asked with mild concern as she looked up from where she was working.

Brody nodded. “Yeah. He doesn’t like doing it, often but it’s the easiest way to do updates on the rest of his body.” He gave the nut he was twisting another tug and it finally came loose, allowing him to remove the back panel of Redbot’s chassis. “There we go. How are things looking over there?”

Sarah had agreed to help Brody do Redbot’s maintenance because - well, she was the smartest person on the team other than Mick, and she was practically begging to take a look at some of the space-age technology that their friend was made out of. Right now she was doing some much-needed repairs on his legs, which had endured a lot after all the running and panicking that the rangers had been doing. “The stuff in here is...can I be honest?”

Brody grimaced. “Uh...yeah?”

Sarah held up the leg. The inside was a mess of charred wires, burnt-out servos, and other rusty parts that she wasn’t even sure served a purpose. “It’s kind of a mess in here.”

Brody sighed. “Yeah, I know. I mean, we did the best we could on the ship with what we had, but what we had was usually garbage, so...”

Sarah immediately felt guilty. Of course they wouldn’t be able to make things on her level up there. How could she even think that? “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I mean, it’s not that bad - actually, the fact that he functions so good is a pretty nice testament to how great you guys were at keeping him maintained up there.” She carried the leg over to the rest of his body. “But now that we’re on Earth and we have access to some nicer parts, Redbot deserves to have a body that functions a little better.” She paused. “And, I mean, you deserve it too.” Brody gave her a confused look at the statement, and she continued. “I mean, he must’ve been kind of like your big brother up there.”

Then Brody broke into a grin. “Yeah...yeah! You’re right. This’ll be awesome!” His gaze met hers, and (not for the first time today) he got lost in how bright her eyes were. It was like they blazed with a passion for helping people with her tech. “It’ll be the...the second best thing I do today.”

Sarah was suddenly acutely aware of how close she was standing to Brody. “Oh? And what’s the _best_ best thing?”

“Well, uh...” Brody suddenly got sheepish, and _wow_ , did the term ‘red’ ranger ever work now that he was blushing so hard. “Working with you is pretty great.”

Sarah couldn’t help but feel warm and fuzzy over the compliment. They started working on the upgrades, but Sarah couldn’t help but glance in Brody’s direction whenever she felt like he wasn’t looking Brody was like a light. Everything he did was painted with such a bright shade of hope and optimism, especially after everything he’d endured over his life. And he brought that light to everyone else on the team. He brought that light to _her_.

It was long work, but together they were able to get quite a bit done. Soon all that was left was to connect a few remaining wires.

“You really should be wearing gloves,” Sarah commented as Brody carefully tied the lines together.

“It’s fine, I used to do this all the time without ‘em.”

Sarah balked. “Yeah...and that’s why you should be wearing them!” she walked to her tool box and grabbed some from the top. She was about to insist that Brody put them on when a shower of sparks burst from the chassis and Brody leapt backwards towards her. They both cried out, and Sarah didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around him protectively. They both stood in shock for a moment before Sarah realized just how tightly she was wrapped around the boy. She gave a nervous grin, but Brody beamed with that same smile and she couldn’t help but melt.

They stood like that for a few minutes longer, not because they needed to, but just because it felt good to hold and be held.


	4. Vanilla (Calvin/Hayley)

[You ready for tonight?]

[Of course I am! I should be asking you that]

[I can send you a pic of you like? <3]

[NO! I wanna be surprised!]

[Calm down silly. It’s not like I’m in a wedding dress.]

Calvin chuckled at Hayley’s response, but he couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter because he’d be lying if he said he’d never pictured Hayley and his wedding. Tonight, though, he had to calm down and play it cool. It was just prom - _but really, what teen thinks of it as ‘just’ prom unless they know there are bigger things waiting for them?_

Moments later he was standing at the edge of her lawn, looking over himself and making sure he would make a good impression. He’d met Hayley’s family plenty of times before, and they all liked him - even her grandma Angelica, who called him “that pale boy” for the first two weeks that they dated. He’d been to all the family dinners, all the birthdays, all of it. And yet...

Sarah looked it up for him. “Imposter syndrome”. It was when he always felt like he wasn’t quite good enough for something, and that any misstep would cause him to lose it. Calvin and Hayley were a power couple at school, every comment on their instagrams was #RelationShip goals, but Calvin always found something to fret over. That’s why tonight had to be _perfect_.

He wasn’t planning anything elaborate or ridiculous. He didn’t even do a massive prom-posal. It had been him waiting outside her locker with a bouquet of white and yellow flowers and an improvised speech about how great they were (a speech that only lasted a few words after “will you go to prom with me?” because Hayley had shut him up with a kiss). All he wanted was a fun night with the two of them and their friends, a night where he could look at her and talk with her and feel that sense of joy that came to him whenever she was near him.

He glanced up and saw Hayley in her bedroom window, her sparkling silver gown glittering as Hayley’s aunt and Ms. Thompson fussed over her hair. Finally he shoved those nerves down and was able to walk to her door.

 

He didn’t know that she’d been staring out her window when he pulled up, and that she’d seen him picking at his tux and tie and the (slightly) smaller bouquet he’d gotten her for that night. It was adorable and sweet and _so_ Calvin. Hayley sighed wistfully. She couldn’t get over how lucky she was to have Calvin in her life. She didn’t like talking about it, but she’d spent a lot of middle school thinking that she’d never get a boyfriend. Nobody ever seemed to notice her, and on the occasion she went to a dance she would just stand in the corner and drink a few glasses of punch before calling her dad to pick her up.

But then Calvin sat next to her in math one day, and he was an absolute wreck. He had grease stains all up his arms and a big black stripe through his unkempt hair, and his clothes released a small poof of dust when he sat down, but then he turned to her and smiled with such earnestness that she couldn’t help but be captivated. Hayley told herself not to get her hopes up, and definitely don’t fall for the first boy to give her a passing glance, but as the weeks went by they became study partners, then friends, then he nervously asked her out on a real date (which was the cutest thing because she knew he went through a lot of work to clean himself up and style his hair and put on clean clothes) and she said yes.

High school happened and the two of them both had their glow up, and Hayley thought for a minute that Calvin might turn out like so many of her friends boyfriends and start fawning over the older, prettier girls. But Cal never left her side. In fact, sometimes Hayley got the feeling that he didn’t know just how much of a catch he was. It wasn’t just his looks (though Hayley was well aware how in shape he was after all those years of working on cars). Cal was vulnerable. He was emotional. So many boys got hard and stern and unfeeling in high school, but Cal missed that memo. He cried during Disney movies, and when he worried about something in their relationship he (almost) always told her and they talked through it.

She was shaken from her thoughts when Mrs. Thomspon and Auntie Grace barged in to make sure she was ready for her big night. She insisted that she was fine, but they took five minutes to reexamine her hair just to make sure. Eventually she managed to break free and make her way down the stairs.

 

Calvin looked up as she came down. Their eyes met, and it was like time had stopped. Hayley knew that she had picked the perfect guy. Calvin knew he’d never have to fear being alone again. If you asked them about that night they’d be able to give some vague details and point you to all the pictures taken of the two of them, but in reality the only thing they saw that night was each other.


	5. Platinum (Hayley/Levi)

Classes had ended an hour ago, but Levi had stayed behind to talk with one of the teachers. If he’d had a normal life he would have graduated a year ago, but between his music career and all the alien drama he’d fallen behind. He just wanted to be sure he was on track to graduate with his brother and their friends. Now that the tutoring session had ended, he was rounding the corner of the school hallway when he nearly collided with Hayley. They both gave a little yelp and jumped back, a small white mist appearing between them. Levi took a second look and saw that Hayley was carrying a big bag of flour.

“That could’ve been a disaster!” Hayley said with a smile.

“Yeah,” Levi. “What are you doing with that?"

“Baking!” Hayley answered confidently. “That’s generally what one uses flour for.”

Levi chuckled. “I suppose so. Have you got an after school class or something?”

Hayley shook her head. “No, but I do have permission to use the home ec room after hours. I have an in with the teacher. Especially after our chocolate sculptures were such a hit.” She readjusted her grip. “Anyway, we were out of flour, so I had to grab some more from the grocery store down the street.”

“And you carried that all the way here?” he asked. Levi held out his hands. “Give it here. You deserve a break, even if you are almost there.”

Hayley smiled and lowered the hefty bag into Levi’s arms. She was strong (obviously), but it was nice to get a little rest. “Thanks a bunch.” She lead the way to the room, and once they were there she showed him where he could put the flour. Setting it down, he saw that one of the tables was already set up for some intense baking. Mixers, muffin trays, measuring cups and bowls, rolling pins, piping bags, cake tins, and more lined one side. The other had all manner of baking ingredients: sugar, yeast, baking soda, eggs, icing sugar, dark chocolate, apples, almonds, brown sugar, white chocolate, strawberries, cashews, milk chocolate, pecans, rhubarbs, peaches, peanuts, cinnamon - he got hungry just looking at it.

“You must have a big project coming up then?”

Hayley shook her head. “Actually, I have a test. Well, had a test. History. And I am almost certain that I bombed it.”

Levi grimaced. “Damn. Sorry to hear that.”

Hayley gave a sigh. “It’s fine. I’m sure I’ll be able to retake it. But in the mean time I need to calm down, and that’s where all this -” she gestured to the controlled chaos around her “- comes in. Baking...soothes me.” Then she grinned. “Kind of like music for you.”

Levi nodded understandingly. “Ah, I get that.” He hesitated as he stood off to the side. “Is it...alright if I stayed?” He anxiously traced his finger along the countertop, trying to make it not incredibly obvious that he’d developed a schoolboy crush on Hayley. “I mean, if it’s not too distracting. I don’t want to do more harm than good. I could just stay off to the side, and I can walk you home afterwards too.”

Hayley couldn’t help but giggle at his blustering. “That would be nice, Levi. And you’d be plenty of help. I told you, that chocolate project was great.” She pointed to the side of the room. “Grab an apron, and then you can start beating eggs.”

Levi smiled as he followed her directions. “So, what are we making?”   
“We are making some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies,” Hayley said, pausing to measure out the flour without spilling too much, “and then some cinnamon carrot muffins, and then an apple chocolate pie. And some cupcakes if it’s not too late.”

Levi paused his eggs. “That’s...that’s a lot...”

Hayley shrugged. “I’m very efficient when it comes to baking.” She was surprised at how cool she was being right now. She had mostly gotten over the feeling of ‘omg Levi Weston is in my vicinity’ since Levi had joined the team, but she couldn’t help growing closer to him over the past few months. And yes, maybe she had added a few other items to the list at the last minute as a ploy to stay even later with him, but he didn’t need to know that.


	6. Topaz (Levi/Calvin)

“What do you mean you’ve never ridden a horse before?” Levi asked with astonishment.

“It’s not that weird,” Calvin answered. “Not everyone in town has horses, you know.”

Levi smirked. “Yeah, but I thought that _you_ at least would have tried it out. Your whole thing is about riding fast and hard!”

Calvin tried to ignore what he was sure was an accidental innuendo. “That’s cars and bikes, dude. And if you remember, I didn’t even get my license until a few months ago.”

Levi grabbed him by the shoulder and squeezed. “Then I’ve gotta get you out to the ranch this weekend, bro.” He gave a patented Levi Weston grin, and Calvin was helpless to refuse. That’s how he found himself standing in the middle of the country a few days later, wearing the biggest boots he’d ever owned and surrounded by the smell of farm animals.

“You don’t own this ranch, do you?” he asked Levi. “I mean, I know you’re a rich country superstar and all, but that would be a little much.”

Levi chuckled. “Nah, I don’t own it. Don’t even own the horses. But the owners are good friends of mine, and they let me come down here whenever I want.” He led Calvin to the stables and introduced him to horses as they walked by. “This is Biscuit, he’s real feisty. This is Alicia, she’s nice as long as you give her an apple. That’s Chuck, he’s not too smart, but he’s a sweetheart.” He stopped in front of a tall clydesdale who approached the gate with familiar calmness. “And this is Dixie. She’s my favourite. Aren’t you, girl?” Levi asked as he patted the side of her neck. Dixie gave soft friendly grunts in response.

“Cool. So, which one will I be riding?” Calvin asked as he looked around. Levi gestured for him to follow.

“You’re a beginner, so you get Bucky.” He showed Calvin to a stable holding a very tall, completely black horse who regarded Calvin with a steely gaze. Calvin gulped.

“Really? Him?”

Levi clapped him on the back. “Ah, don’t worry. Bucky’s really gentle once you get to know him.”

Cal nodded, but he was still unsure as Levi helped him climb onto the back of the horse. After a few moments of struggling, Levi declared him ready, and the two set off on an easy trot. As they moved along the trails winding through the surrounding woods, Calvin began to ease his mind. The horse, as intimidating as it was, really was gentle as it clip-clopped along. No longer concerned about being thrown from its back if he spooked it by accident, Calvin could take time to watch Levi. Despite him being on the team for several months now, Calvin still couldn’t get over the feeling of ‘omg Levi Weston is in my vicinity’. He’d had a crush on him from a distance before he even knew him, but he hadn’t expected the man to be so humble once he got to know him.

“This way!” Levi called back as he shifted Dixie up a hill. Calvin carefully steered Bucky that way as well, and soon saw that they were coming to a crest overlooking the town. What’s more, the sun had just began its descent, spraying the horizon in purple and crimson hues.

“Beautiful, ain’t it?” Levi said.

“Yeah,” Calvin nodded, though he was mostly looking at his friend. “Hey Levi, this may sound weird, but um...is this a date?” Calvin asked carefully.

Levi turned his head to meet Calvin’s gaze, and broke out into that smile again. “Well, I’d hope so. I wasn’t sure if that’s what you were thinking, but that’s definitely what I was going for.” He tugged on the reigns, and Dixie sidled closer to Bucky so that the two boys were only breaths away from each other. “I mean, I don’t take people on sunset horseback rides if they’re just _anyone_.”

Calvin’s heart fluttered. “Awesome,” he replied, hoping that it could convey all the giddiness going through him at the moment. “And it’s a really good first date,” he continued, gesturing out over the hill. “Great...great view.”

They tried to appreciate the sunset, but their gazes kept on drifting back to each other, and eventually their hands found each other. As the last rays of light began to fade and Calvin realizes how close their faces were, he decided to go in for the kiss. Levi responded in kind, and it wasn’t until the horses grew restless that they decided they should get back. But that night was just beginning.


End file.
